Protectionism is vicious

A world economy can't afford to be enmeshed in trade protectionism measures, whether it is bogged down in a financial recession or showing signs of recovery.

While the World Bank warned last week that the global economic recovery is fragile, the United States government announced it will be investigating charges that Chinese companies are selling oil-well drill pipes in the US at unfairly low prices.

The United Steelworkers union and a group of companies from Texas and Illinois have asked for anti-dumping tariffs ranging from 429-496 percent on Chinese exports. These high tariffs, if approved, are based on unfounded guesses that Chinese producers sell their products at prices up to 80 percent lower than normal market prices, according to industrial experts.